Miami Miami Personal Injury Lawyer

Can You Recover Damages For Injures Caused By These Viral Challenges? (Ice Bucket Challenge, Tide Pod, In My Feelings)

We live in a world where teens and adults alike aspire to doing crazy and stupid things just to get more likes on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, to get more attention on social media, and to blend into the society.

That is why from time to time, your Instagram or Facebook feed is full of videos of your friends and random folks doing something completely unnecessary and ridiculous. Not that long ago, you might have seen videos of the dangerous Tide Pod challenge, in which predominantly teens and children challenged each other to bite into a Tide Pod detergent package.

Tide Pod, Ice Bucket, and other dangerous viral challenges

The challenge may seem harmless to some, but it isn’t so. Far from it. After the challenge gained traction on social media, there have been multiple cases of teens and children hospitalized because of serious chemical burns and poisoning caused by the Tide Pod challenge.

“A few years ago, we had the Ice Bucket Challenge, the forefather of foolish challenges on social media,” says our Miami personal injury attorney from the Dante Law Firm, P.A. “While the challenge seemed harmless (let’s admit that we have all participated in it!), it actually injured hundreds or even thousands of people and left several dead nationwide.”

#InMyFeelings, the ridiculously unsafe social media challenge

And now comes the #InMyFeelings challenge, inspired by a music video of rapper Drake, in which passengers of cars are encouraged to hop out of a moving car and dance to the “In My Feelings” song by Drake alongside their vehicle. As you may have guessed by now, the vehicle has to be moving as you are dancing, while the driver is filming you.

It was only a matter of time before we heard stories of people causing car accidents because of the #InMyFeelings challenge. But it did not keep others from participating in the trendy and “fun” viral challenge. Children and teens accounted for the largest demographic that have taken part in the challenge, while their parents were, understandably, worried for their children’s safety.

How to keep your children safe from social media challenges

I know what you are thinking. “When will these unsafe social media challenges stop?” And while we do not have an answer to this question, there is something you can do to keep your children safe from the dangerous viral challenges on social media. In order to do this, it is essential that you:

• Follow your children on social media. See what their interests are, who they are friends with, what they like, etc. You can learn a lot about your child by simply looking at his or her social media account, no matter how ludicrous it might sound. If you see that your child has a tendency to do reckless or bizarre things to get more likes (participating in unsafe challenges is one of those ways to get more likes).
• Keep track of new viral challenges. The best thing you can do to prevent your child from getting hurt while attempting to participate in one of those unsafe viral social media challenges is staying alert to new trends.
• Check who your child is friends with or who he/she follows and is subscribed to. It is no less important to be aware of who your child is friends with and who he or she follows on social media. There may be some bad influencers in his/her contact or following list.
• Know why these unsafe challenges go viral. Knowledge is just as important as preventative actions. Experts say that teenagers and children participate in unsafe challenges on social media because they want to be part of the group, they lack attention in real life, and they want to be like the people they admire. You may be able to address the underlying issue of why your child might be interested in potentially hazardous trends online.
• Limit social media exposure. Although this method is becoming less and less popular in the modern world (after all, there is way too much technology surrounding us in our everyday life), limiting how much time your child spends on social media may also help limit his/her exposure to the latest viral challenges.

Viral social media challenges might not seem like a big deal, but people do get hurt while filming them in an attempt to get more likes and follows on social media. If you or your children have been injured while participating in one of those ridiculous viral challenges, be sure to speak to a Miami personal injury attorney. Get a free consultation by contacting the Dante Law Firm, P.A. Call our offices at 305-949-2526 today.